Written By: Sakura Snyder, Staff Writer, and Miles Watts, Staff Writer
VIBRANT: After the homecoming parade and pep rally, the myriad of carnival booths are ready to raise support for their clubs and nominees.
After the Homecoming Parade and pep rally, parents and students all gathered to enjoy themselves at the 2024 Homecoming Carnival. A wide variety of booths were set up for the festivities – there was everything from drawing to throwing ping-pong balls into a cup for a prize. Here are a couple of the many amazing booths that were present September 28th:
ComedySportz
The infamous “marriage booth” has always been ComedySportz’s way of collecting tickets. “We are marrying friends, partners, or even just plants and celebrities,” explains Jade Racz, a Senior and homecoming nominee for the club. Anything you could ever want married together could be done at the booth for only one ticket! It is also a place for divorces for any people who have lost their love. Either way, it is a great way to get some fun pictures and a quick laugh.
Gardening Club
At the Gardening Club’s booth, a ring toss game and a plant sale were happening simultaneously. One throws the ring onto bubbles or flowers and they get the corresponding prize. It is a no brainer that they sell plants at their booth, but they also were selling garden-themed pens and other nature based items.
Art Club
For their booth, Poly’s very own Art Club decided to come up with the fun idea of selling and making pinatas for five tickets each. Melody Romero (12), who is the president of the club, wanted to put an emphasis on the “incorpor[ation] of art and culture” into their event, especially because September is National Hispanic Heritage Month. As for how the booth turned out, Romero and the other members seem satisfied. “People are coming to make pinatas and it’s fun,” she explains.
CTE
At CTE’s booth, the person gets to watch a short video in a classroom in exchange for tickets. Information about the club is provided, telling those interested about what the club does. They currently have a focus on film and are going to start production on a short video for a district festival next week. However, they also have other focuses such as culinary arts. Clearly, they are a diverse club with many interests.
Pickleball Club
Pickleball club is a new club here at Poly, but that doesn’t stop them from participating in this year’s carnival! For their booth, they held a paddle game where a ball had to be hit into a bucket in order to win a prize. Eric Barbarin (12), a member of the Pickleball club, asserts that people were able to “learn how to swing” efficiently through this game. According to Eric, the club is all about “having friendly competition between group members,” so despite skill level or experience, one can still have a lot of fun in the club.
ASL Club
At the ASL Club’s booth, members came together to put their ASL knowledge to use. By painting people’s hands into different ASL signs, such as bunnies, fish and flowers, they were able to create a fun yet educational environment, especially catered to a younger audience. As Maylee Decker (10) jokingly pointed out, the members felt that their personal “artistic skills [were being] improved” too.
Photography Club
Photography club did something a little different. Candid photos were taken and then handed to the person that had their picture taken. They could then go to Mr. Schiller was working the booth and could receive the photo in exchange for tickets. Their booth was inspired by life’s simplicity. As Eli Sbar (12), homecoming nominee for the Photography Club, put it as so: “Everyone here has their EZ-Ups, all their decorations and stuff. But here in Photo Club, we don’t need to have all this bribery.” People that actually have an interest in photography will come to the booth and enjoy it. They do not need flashy decorations to get peoples’ attention for all they need is the quality of the photos that the person receives.
Theater
The jesters of the theater turned our old theater into a haunted house! For five tickets, one can immerse themselves in the dark and creepy environment of an abandoned, haunted theater. If the person is not interested in getting scared, coloring was also an option. They had seen this video online about this interactive horror experience for actors and they decided to replicate it in the theater. This video had inspired them to create a horror experience to get people scared in anticipation of October.
Band and Color Guard
The Band’s booth was a ping-pong toss game where the person tosses the ball into the cup. They have three balls, and if they make it in they receive a duck, a kazoo, or both. However, the person does not know what they are getting, as what they win is at the bottom of the cup. A very simplistic, but fun, booth that was sure to delight any person of any age.
Black Student Union
With rays of sunlight beaming down onto people at the carnival all day, some booths decided to serve cold drinks. One such club was the Black Student Union. With a wide variety of Kool-Aid flavors, ranging from tropical bunch to blue raspberry and cherry, the booth was a hit. Seth Rich Neil (11), member of the Black Student Union, remarks that people were “coming in and out all day.” Next year however, Neil has high hopes that they cook food as well.
With rays of sunlight beaming down onto people at the carnival all day, some booths decided to serve cold drinks. One such club was the Black Student Union. With a wide variety of Kool-Aid flavors, ranging from tropical bunch to blue raspberry and cherry, the booth was a hit. Seth Rich Neil (11), member of the Black Student Union, remarks that people were “coming in and out all day.” Next year however, Neil has high hopes that they cook food as well.
Thank you to all clubs who gave their all at the carnival. Your hard work was much appreciated by all!